Marco Andretti makes history

LONG POND — Marco Andretti won the pole with a record speed and made history by becoming the third Andretti to start up front at Pocono Raceway.

MIKE KUHNS

LONG POND — Marco Andretti won the pole with a record speed and made history by becoming the third Andretti to start up front at Pocono Raceway.

There is just one elephant in the room for the IndyCar driver to slay — a victory.

Andretti turned in an average lap of 221.273 mph on Saturday, winning the pole for today's Pocono IndyCar 400 (12 p.m., ABC), as he leads a trio of Andretti drivers on the front row.

Joining Andretti up front will be teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay (220.829 mph) and James Hinchcliffe (220.431 mph). Andretti, who is third in points, has yet to win this year.

Tony Kanaan, the driver alive to win a $1 million bonus if he wins the triple crown (Indianapolis, Pocono and Fontana), will start fifth. If a driver wins two of the three tracks, a $250,000 bonus will be paid.

Andretti follows in the footsteps of his father, Michael, and grandfather, Mario, as pole winners on the 2.5-mile triangle. It was his second pole this season (Milwaukee).

"I got everything out of it so I knew I was going to be pleased with the result," Andretti said.

And he'll have some familiar faces at the front in a rare three-wide start today. Hunter-Reay and Hinchcliffe each took their shots at Andretti, but his two-lap pace was just too strong.

Andretti teammate EJ Viso wasn't as lucky, getting loose going through Turn 1 and crashing. Alex Tagliani, the last driver to qualify, also spun out in Turn 1.

Turn 1 seemed to test most drivers. Even if they made it through unscathed, it left an impression.

"When I came here last week and I did my first 20 laps around this place I said, "There is no way we're going to go flat through Turn 1,'" Kanaan said. "It just doesn't make any sense. And all of the sudden we did, so it's exciting."

The IndyCar series will make its first start at Pocono Raceway since 1989.

Open-wheel racing dominated the track from 1971 through 1989 when Danny Sullivan took the final checkered flag. Nazareth native Mario Andretti was the big hometown favorite here and now his son Michael has one of the most successful teams on the track today, a team brimming with confidence.

"For here at Pocono, Andretti on the pole, Andretti Autosport locking up the front row, it's tough to write a better story than that," Hinchcliffe said. "It's going to be a colorful picture I think."

Having Andretti up front and the team locking up the front row may go a long way toward ticket sales as well.

"That name in this part of the woods goes a long way," track president Brandon Igdalsky said.

In the Indy Lights Series Pocono 100, pole-sitter Carlos Munoz took the checkered flag. Nazareth native Sage Karam finished second and Gabby Chaves took third place in the eight-car field.